Clutch.



No. 855,915. PATENTED JUNE 4, 1907. P. E. WELTON.

CLUTCH.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 25. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED JUNE 4, 1907.

P. E. WELTON.

CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25.1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

fl Zine mgim 4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PARK E. WELTON, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGN OR TO EDWIN J. OAUFFIELD, OF

AKRON, OHIO.

CLUTCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 4, 1907.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PARK E. WELTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Clutches, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a friction clutch forconnecting at will two members which are independently rotatable aboutthe same axis; and to do this in such a way that when the clutch isthrown in, the non-rotating member will be started slowly, and thefriction surfaces will be automatically brought together with a forcewhich increases pro ortionately with the load, so as to ultimate y causethe driving and driven members to rotate in unison.

The invention may be summarized as the combinations of parts hereinafterdescribed and definitely pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a central lon itudinal section of a clutchembodying t e present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the slidingsleeve of the clutch. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central section and Fig.4 a right end view of the part a a of the driven memberr Figs. 5 and 6areedgeviews partly sectioned, taken from points 90 apart showing thescrew ring C of the clutch. Fig. 7 is an end view of said ring. Fig. 8is a transverse sectional View in the plane indicated by line 88 of Fig.1.

Referring to the arts by letters, B represents a rotatable shaft, whichin the ordinary use of the clutch will serve as the driving member.

A represents the driven member which is a built-up structure; rotatablymounted upon shaft B. It consists of two se arated sleeves a a, whichare rotatably fitte to the shaft B, and an intermediate drum a of largerinternal diameter. A pulley or gear a may be keyed to the sleeve a. Thesleevea is ex teriorly threaded, and u on this threaded portion a ring Eis screwe 'The clutchin spiral D surrounds the shaft B, or preferab y abushing b keyed to the shaft. This s iral is preferably a spiral spring,althou I1 it might be a flexible cord, rope or cable epending upon thesize of the clutch. One end of the spiral must be secured to the memberA and the other end b, whereby said bushing and shaft and member A mustrotate together, provided the spiral does not slip upon the shaft.

The shiftin sleeve G slides upon shaft B, I

and is provi ed with a drum extension g, which embraces the drum (1 andhas a tongue and groove connection therewith, whereby said sleeve ispermitted to move longitudinally with respect to the member A, but mustrotate in unison with it. In this drum is a diagonal slot g, and intothis slota friction roller is extends, which roller is mounted on a studK, screwed into the ring E. It is evident therefore, that by moving thesleeve G longitudinally, the ring E will be turned u on the member A inthat direction which Wlll wind up the clamping spiral and cause it toclose in upon and grip'the shaft.

Probably if no means were provided for causing the spiral to grip theshaft other than the mechanism above described, the clutch would not bevery efficient, except possibly in very small sizes; at any rate itwould be very much less efficient than it is by reason of the additionalmechanism now to be described.

Pinned to the shaft, but within the drum 9 is a collar M. A sleeve n isconnected with the shaft by means of a tongue and groove which com elsit to rotate in unison with the shaft, ut permits it to move lengthwisethereon. vided with a friction disk N which is opposed to the face ofthe ring E, and is normally in close proximity thereto but not incontact therewith. This disk is under the influence of springs whichyieldingly push it toward said ring. In the structure shown, this springpressure is derived from springs P occupyin recesses in a sleeve R whichis screwe on the sleeve n. These springs P This sleeve n is prothesleeve n. The spring actuated move-' ment of sleeves n and R, is limitedby a pin fore, causes it to move le T carried by sleeve R, which pinprojects into an annular groove m in collar M.

, When as before stated, the sleeve G is moved to the left as shown inFig. 1, its slot 9' acting upon the roller k turns the ring E in theclutching direction. It will be remembered, however, that ring E isscrewed on to the sleeve a. The turning of said ring therethwise uponsaid sleeve, and this movement is toward the friction disk N, and issufficient to move it against said disk N with considerable force. Thisturning of the-ring E should be suflicient to wind the s iral upon theshaft but not very tightly. he rotary motion of the shaft may, if thegrip of the spiral .is tight enou h, overcome the inertia of the drivenmem er, and slowl start it to rotating. In any event there Wlll be enouh friction between the engaging faces of t e disk N and the ring E toadditionally turn the'latter in the direction which will still furtherwind up the-spiral spring. This rotary movement of the ring E also movesit still further toward, and more firmly into contact with the rotatingbut longitudinally fyielding disk N', thereby increasing the "etionbetween them, and these actions go on automatically so long as the shaftB and member A do not rotate in unison, and'until the spiral has been sotightened upon the shaft that said shaft cannot slip in the spiral, whenof course the shaft and member A must rotate in unison.

drum is widened out by cutting away that side of said slot as at g whichis opposed to the inclined side which by engagement with roller K turnssaid rin By moving sleeve tion, the ring E will be turned on sleeve 0 inthe reverse direction, thereby withdrawing it from its contact withdiskN, and at the,

same time loosening the spiral.

member, means for yielding in the reverse direce It will be obvious toone skilled in this art that the broad invention herein disclosed andspecified in the claims may be embodied in mechanism differing widely indetails from that mechanism which is shown in the drawing. Therefore,although some of said novel details are of value in apractical'embodiment of the invention, and are hereinafter claimed, itis not the intention that any of the claims shall be limited to thespecific construction and its details to any greater extent than suchlimitations as are clearly expressed therein.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 1. In a clutch, thecombination of a rotatable driving member, the independently r0 tatabledriven member, a ring supported by and adapted to be turned u on thedriven member, a spiral around the riving member having one endconnected with the driven member and one end with said ring, and meansfor turning said ring upon the driven member.

2. In a clutch, the combination of a rotatable driving member, theindependently rotatable driven member, a ring sup orted by and adaptedto be turned upon the driven member, and means for turning. said ringupon the driven member a spiral around the drivin member having one endconnected with t e driven member and'one end with said ring, a frictiondisk rotatable with the driving member'and means for yieldingly pressingthe disk and ring together. after the if'iing has been turned for thepurpose speci- 3. In a clutch, the combination of the rotatable drivingmember, the independently rotatable driven member, a ring which isscrewed upon the driven member, a spiral around the driving memberhaving one end connected with the driven member and one end with saidring, a frictiondisk rotatable with but movable endwise u on the drivingl; pressing said disk toward said ring, and means for turning said ringupon the driven member.

4. In a clutch, the combination of the rotatable driving member, anindependently rotatable driven member, a ring supported by and capableof being turned upon the driven member, a spiral around the drivingmember having one end connected withthe driven member and one end withsaid ring, a

sliding sleeve having a tongue and groove connection with the drivenmember and being provided with a diagonal slot, a projection secured tothe ring and extending into said slot, and means for moving said slidingsleeve endwise.

5. In a clutch, the combination of a rotatable shaft, a driven memberrotatably mountedupon said shaft and consisting of two separated sleevesand an intermediate drum of larger internal diameter, a ring rotatableupon said driven member, a spiral arranged around the shaft within thedrum of said driven memberand having one of its ends connected with thedriven member and its other end connected with said ring, and means forturning said ring upon the driven member.

6. In a clutch, the combination of a rotatable shaft, a driven memberrotatably mounted upon said shaft and consisting of two separatedsleeves and an intermediate drum of larger internal diameter, a ring concentric with said driven member and screwed on to the same, a spiral.around the shaft within the drum and having one of its ends connectedwith the driven member and the other end with said ring, a disk having atongue and groove connection with the shaft, means for yieldinglypressing said disk toward said rin and means for turning said ring uIponsaid riven member.

7. n a clutch, the combination of a rotatable shaft, and a driven memberrotatably mounted u on the shaft and comprising two sleeves an anintermediate drum of larger diameter, a ring concentric with said drivenmember and screwed on to one of the sleeves thereof, saidring having twoshoulders, a spiral spring around the shaft within said drum havin oneend bent and inserted in a hole in the riven member, and having itsother end bent and inserted between said shoulders on the ring, meansfor turning said ring, ,a disk having a tongue and groove connectionwith the shaft and means for yieldingly pressing said disk toward saidring.

8; In a clutch, the combination of a shaft, a driven member rotatablethereon, a ring concentric with said member and screwed on to the same,a spiral embracing the shaft and having one of itscends connected withsaid driven member and-the other with said ring, a disk having a tongueand groove connection with the shaft, a spring acting to move said disktoward said rmg and means for adjusting the tension of the spring andmeans for turning said ring on the, driven member.

9. In a friction clutch, a collar fixed to the shaft, a sleeve n havinga tongue and groove connection with the shaft,said sleeve beingexternally threaded,-a sleeve R screwed upon said threaded portion, a sring confined between said sleeve and col ar and exerting its force tothrust them a art and a-ring E against which the end of s eeve n may bepressed by the action of said spring.

10. In a friction clutch, a collar fixed to the shaft, a sleeve n havinga tongueand groove connection with the shaft,said sleeve beingexternally threaded,-a sleeve R screwed upon said threaded portion, a

spring confined between said sleeve R and collar and exerting its forceto thrust them apart,said collar having an annular groove, a pin securedto said sleeve R in said groove and a ring E against which the springmay press the end of sleeve n.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

PARK E. WELTON.

WVitnesses:

J. M. WOODWARD, H. R. SULLIVAN.

